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Latex dilution reaction during the tapping flow course of Hevea brasiliensis and the effect of Ethrel stimulation

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Abstract

The latex dilution reaction during the tapping flow course has been well documented and associated with the facilitation of tapping latex flow. However, its underlying mechanism has not experimentally examined. The latex total solid content, osmotic potential and phloem turgor pressure change during the tapping flow course were simultaneously measured to investigate the cause of water movement during the tapping flow course. It was found that there are three different stages for the laticifer water equilibrium during the tapping flow course. The tapping-induced rapid turgor pressure drop is the cause of the first stage water influx into laticifers, while osmoregulation prevails during water exchange in the second and third stages of tapping flow. Meanwhile, aquaporin expressions were, for the first time, investigated during the tapping flow course. The rapid transcript up-regulation of HbPIP1, HbPIP2;1 and HbPIP2;3 contributes to the latex dilution reaction. However, their activity gating cannot be ruled out. Ethrel stimulation can significantly dilute the corresponding latex fractions during the tapping flow course due to its up-regulations of HbPIP1, HbPIP2;1 and HbPIP2;3. Nevertheless, the latex dilution reaction pattern for the Ethrel treated trees did not change, except for a lower degree of dilution compared with the un-treated trees. All these results suggest that both phloem turgor pressure and aquaporins are involved in the latex dilution reaction during the tapping flow course.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31100460), the Earmarked Fund for China Agriculture Research System (CARS-34) and the Natural Science Foundation of Hainan Province (809029). The primary author, FA, thanks Deakin University for the prevision of Ph.D scholarship.

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The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

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    Authors and Affiliations

    1. Rubber Research Institute of Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences/Danzhou Investigation & Experiment Station of Tropical Crops of Ministry of Agriculture, Danzhou, 571737, Hainan, People’s Republic of China

      Feng An, Guishui Xie & Zhi Zou

    2. Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University, Waurn Ponds, Geelong, VIC, 3216, Australia

      Feng An & Lingxue Kong

    3. College of Agronomy, Hainan University, Haikou, 570228, People’s Republic of China

      Xiuqing Cai

    4. School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, 3216, Australia

      James Rookes & David Cahill

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    1. Feng An
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    Correspondence to Feng An or Lingxue Kong.

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    Feng An and Xiuqing Cai have contributed equally to this work.

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    An, F., Cai, X., Rookes, J. et al. Latex dilution reaction during the tapping flow course of Hevea brasiliensis and the effect of Ethrel stimulation. Braz. J. Bot 38, 211–221 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40415-014-0125-7

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